Snowshoes

ABSTRACT

A snowshoe is formed of lightweight sheet material having an upturned prow section, a following load-bearing section, and a rear trailing section. The underside is provided with antislip cleats. Bindings are included to secure the shoe plate to the user&#39;&#39;s boot.

United States Patent Rodney M. La Violette 14434 Ambaum Blvd. s.w.. Seattle, Wash. 98166 Apr. 27, 1970 Aug. 24. I971 Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented SNOWSHOES 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[1.8. CI 36/45 Int. Cl. A43c 13/00 Field oIScax-ch.v 36/45, 2.5 R. 2.5 AB; 280/1 1.13

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 405,516 6/1889 Watson 36/25 AB 2,615,260 10/1952 Paden 36/25 AB 3,269,037 8/1966 Massicotte 36/25 AB Primary Examiner- Patrick D. Lawson Anorney- Ford E. Smith ABSTRACT: A snowshoe is formed of lightweight sheet material having an upturned prow section, a following loadbearing section, and a rear trailing section. The underside is provided with antislip cleats. Bindings are included to secure the shoe plate to the user's boot.

SNOWSIIOES SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary purpose of the invention is to provide shoe means whereby a person may walk easily over the snow on the level, or uphill or downhill with considerable speed and ease. This is accomplished by providing a shoe plate about three feet long and formed out of lightweight metal or other sheet material. It has an upturned prow and relatively flat middle and after sections which are cleated on the underside. The shoe plate is bound to the bottom of both the toe and the heel of the users boot, a practice not adapted with the older Indian-designed snowshoes. In use, the snowshoe is raised and advanced and, to facilitate forward movement, the prow section is convexly curved to glide over and not plow into the snow. In descents, the user can ride the prows by keeping the cleats out of contact with the snow, and thus can travel downhill with great speed. For purposes of preventing slippage fore or aft, the user sets his cleats into the snow.

The following discloses a preferred form of the invention. Variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art. All such as by a reasonable application of the doctrine of equivalents is intended to be covered hereby.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the topside of a snowshoe;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the snowshoe in use;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the bottom;

FIG. 4 is a cross section on line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bottom side of the snowshoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The shoe plate is formed from a lightweight sheet of metal such as aluminum, duralumin or the like. The overall length of approximately 35/36 inches is divided into the prow section 12, the load-bearing section 14, and the trailing portion 16. The plate 10 is about 5 inches wide and desirably about I/ I6 inch thick.

The prow 12 is formed by removing a V-shaped portion from one end of plate 10 and then drawing the edges of the V together and securing them integrally together bywelding bead 11. This results in the prow 12 having a V-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 4, and being somewhat concave fore and aft as shown in the FIG. 2. The nose 13 is rounded or blunted. The prow l2 smoothly verges into the load-bearing portion 14 which is flat laterally and longitudinally.

Extending along the median of plate 10 is a stiff backbone element which may be a wooden slat laminated to plate 10 by front rivet 22 and rear rivets 24 and others as described. Backbone 20 has suitably been formed from 2% inches X inch X 24 inches clear fir or the equivalent. Its purpose is twofold. It stifi'ens the shoe along its length and across its middle and it serves as a footboard or platform to receive and bear the user's weight. Thus, the stiffness, i.e., inflexibility, of the shoe extends through the prow section 12 and the intermediate load-bearing portion 14. The short trailing portion is likewise stiffened as will be described.

Chevron-shaped cleats 30, 32 and 34 are provided on the underside of plate 10 as best can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 5. Each cleat is V-shaped as shown, and is secured by means of rivets 36 to plate 10. The pointed ends of the cleats are directed forward. The cleats are arrayed symmetrically along the longitudinal median of plate 10. Cleat 30 is located to underlie the toe binding 38. Cleat 32 is disposed approximately under the user's heel. And cleat 34 is attached to trailing portion I6. The cleat V's are angularly in cross section with one angle being secured flush to the plate bottom, and by rivets to backbone 20 as shown. The other angle stands abruptly downward and outward from the plate bottom.

5 justably joined by lace 39 across the boot toe. Preferably the boot toe is inserted into binding 38 so that its front end is flush with the binding front edge. The lace 39 is drawn tightly so that under use the boot may not work forward in binding 38.

The heel strap 40, adjustable by means of buckle 41 is forwardly secured to toe binding 38 and passes tightly around the boot heel to prevent withdrawal of the boot from toe binding 38.

Ankle strap 42, likewise adjustable by means of buckle 43, is anchored to backbone 20 by rivets 46. In use, it too is drawn tight to insure that the boot heel is held down to the backbone. It will be observed that the described arrangement for attaching this improved snowshoe to the boot departs materially from prior conventional practices wherein the user's boot is pivotally secured at the toe so that when the foot is raised, the shoe at the rear drops and tends to drag in the snow during forward travel. In this instance, when the user raises his foot, the snowshoe stays horizontal or is tilted forward or rearward as the user raises or lowers his toes. It will thus be seen that essentially the user is provided with a stiff, lightweight shoe that is wider than his boot, extends considerably forward and rearward of his boot, and which is stiff and cleated on the underside, except at the prow 12 which is boot-shaped and smooth on the underside. It will also be noted that the side edges of the shoe are quite sharp, and can be jammed into the snow sideways. The unobstructed plate edges are extremely useful in making lateral jump stops and to prevent side sliding in a traverse.

In normal cross-country walking, the snowshoe heel is lifted slightly from the snow, say two to four inches. 'As the foot moves forward, the toe tends to dip causing the snowshoe prow to also dip. The snowshoe moves forward with its prow or nose skimming the snow, but not digging in. As the step is completed, and the user places the snowshoe on the snow, the heel descends and the cleats bite-in under the weight of the user. The shoe is secured in a nonslip manner as the user takes the alternate step. In ordinary walking, it is desireable to lean slightly forward and not backward to benefit from the skimming action.

In climbing on steep surfaces as the foot is raised so also is the prow of the shoe raised as it skims the surface. As the weight is transferred to the shoe, the load-bearing portion drops and the cleats engage and anchor the shoe.

It is possible to descend steep surfaces by moving straight down, and to do so rapidly. The action is something like skating on the toes of the shoes. As the user desires to slow his downhill progress or to stop, he merely sets the shoes so that the full cleated undersurface engages the snow.

What is claimed is:

l. A snowshoe, comprising:

an elongated lightweight shoe plate having a prow section, a

load-bearing section, and a trailing section arranged, in the order stated from the front rearward;

said prow section being provided with guide means on the undersurface and arranged fore and aft of the shoe plate;

a stiff backbone element secured to the upper surface of said shoe plate and extending throughout the length of said load-bearing portion;

binding means secured to said shoe plate operable to attach said shoe to a users boot to hold the boot toe and heel to said backbone element; and

a plurality of cleats secured on the bottom side of said shoe plate in the areas of said load-bearing and trailing sections, said cleats being arranged symmetrical across the axis of said plate.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the cleats are chevronshaped and are arranged with their pointed portions being forwardly directed.

minates beneath the front of said backbone element.

5. The structure according to claim 1 in which the backbone element is a wooden slat laminated to said shoe plate, and the binding means operate to secure a boot thereto. 

1. A snowshoe, comprising: an elongated lightweight shoe plate having a prow section, a load-bearing section, and a trailing section arranged in the order stated from the front rearward; said prow section being provided with guide means on the undersurface and arranged fore and aft of the shoe plate; a stiff backbone element secured to the upper suRface of said shoe plate and extending throughout the length of said loadbearing portion; binding means secured to said shoe plate operable to attach said shoe to a user''s boot to hold the boot toe and heel to said backbone element; and a plurality of cleats secured on the bottom side of said shoe plate in the areas of said load-bearing and trailing sections, said cleats being arranged symmetrical across the axis of said plate.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which the cleats are chevron-shaped and are arranged with their pointed portions being forwardly directed.
 3. The structure according to claim 1 in which the guide means on the undersurface of the prow section is a ridge having oppositely sloping sides.
 4. The structure of claim 3 in which the ridge extends rearward from the forward extremity of the snowshoe and terminates beneath the front of said backbone element.
 5. The structure according to claim 1 in which the backbone element is a wooden slat laminated to said shoe plate, and the binding means operate to secure a boot thereto. 